


Overprotective Fool

by LyricalTwilight



Series: Twilight Missing Moments [6]
Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Book: Eclipse, Canon Compliant, F/M, Gap Filler, JaliceWeek20, Jaliceweek, Overprotective, Twilight Gap, Twilight Renaissance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyricalTwilight/pseuds/LyricalTwilight
Summary: The battle in Eclipse, told from Jasper's POV.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale
Series: Twilight Missing Moments [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862119
Comments: 9
Kudos: 54
Collections: Jalice Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter of this short Eclipse gap-filler. I wrote it for JaliceWeek2020! The second chapter will be the battle, and will be posted at a later date. I hope you all like it!

**.:Overprotective Fool:.**

* * *

**Jasper's POV**

OoOoOoO

Moonlight blanketed the clearing, saturating the mossy greens into a pale hue. It was in its final descent; the sun would be up in a couple of hours, though the clouds overhead promised to keep the forest dark and wet. Hopefully, the rain would hold back enough for us to light our fires, and for those fires to fully and completely scorch the limbs of our enemies into ash.

As it had a hundred times in the past twenty-four hours, my whole being bristled at the thought of what my family and I were about to do, what we were about to face.

It had been nearly seventy years since I left the Southern Wars - and Maria - behind. Ironically, it had been nearly seventy years that I was in those wars. Here I was, nearly at a point where the peace of my immortal existence would surpass the nightmares, and a newborn army was headed right back to me. Well, toward my brother and his human mate. In a _family_ , it was one and the same. I had once questioned the possibility of a coven becoming a family, but, of course, the Cullens had beaten the odds. And then Alice and I had become one of them. For the second time in our short two years, Alice had changed my world for the better.

Yet, for all its positives, for all its joys, there came times like today where the true fault of family bonds revealed itself.

Love was an altering emotion. So many forms, so many strings sprouting from its web. Nothing motivated people the way love did - whether gained or lost, whether past or present. Love changed the shape of a heart, of a soul, of a life. For something they loved, one would do anything; for instance, risking one's own life or the life of their mate. I had come to this realization only last year when Alice had left me behind in order to save our brother. It wasn't something I enjoyed remembering, but it was relevant, I supposed, since we were once again risking our lives for him. But I couldn't complain. Couldn't argue. I couldn't blame Edward as much as I couldn't condemn him to face this alone. He was my brother. My family. Alice's best friend, and our confidante. That was the risk I had come to accept then, and that I had to face again now. It was pointless to contemplate the emotions I could try to tame enough to leave, to toss Alice over my shoulder and escape while we could, and wander the globe freely with nobody to care for but each other. Our bonds would never fade completely. I had tried in the beginning, in the 1950s, but in time I had given up trying to keep my walls standing. And now it was far too late.

Alice and I were Cullens. We loved our family. And we would not abandon them, no matter what it meant for me.

The air whistled above me; a body against the wind. Unalarmed, I smiled as I braced for impact, having sensed her before she had leaped into the air. Alice landed lithely on my back, pinning her small frame safely against me, where I preferred her. Her hands folded across the base of my neck as she held her position, and I clasped them with my own.

"Carlisle and the others are home," she informed me. We had ended our last training session less than thirty minutes ago. Alice had followed them for a little while back to the house but had turned back around, just as I knew she would if I never started after them. "Will you be staying out here for the rest of the night?" she asked.

I chuckled, running my thumb tenderly down her knuckles and back up again. "You tell me."

She thought about it a moment, dramatically jutting out her bottom lip and pressing a thoughtful finger to it. "Hmm. You'll be where I am," she decided. I quite liked that.

We were quiet for a moment, comfortable in our own thoughts, together. She rested her chin against the top of my head. She was contemplative, whisps of wonder and impatience weaving through her. I imagined her looking out across the moonlit clearing and picturing the same thing I was - a battlefield.

Later today, an army of newborns would storm through these trees with their minds set on the scent of a single human girl, and we would be here, standing deliberately between their uncontrollable thirst and their delicious reward.

Edward had the good fortune to keep Bella out of the path of danger; I wished I could do the same for Alice.

As if sensing where my thoughts were, Alice poked my cheek. "You're not worrying about me, are you?"

I tried not to smile, I really did.

She shimmied higher until she was sitting on my shoulders now. Her hair - lit almost blue by the moon - hung in soft spikes as she leaned forward until her eyes met mine upside down. "You showed Bella why she didn't need to worry about me - do we have to demonstrate it again, for you?" she teased.

I smirked wider. "Perhaps."

"Jasper..." she sighed.

By her displeased annoyance, I knew what she was thinking. By her confidence, I knew what she wanted me to say. And by the lack of her curiosity, I knew that she knew that I knew.

I didn't need to be an empath to also know that there was nothing that was going to be said, by either of us, that would placate the other. What else could I say to this precious creature on my shoulders that I haven't already? Alice had seen much more of me than I would have liked. She had seen me at my darkest. The others... The others, save for Edward through our thoughts, had never seen me the way I was before turning to an all-animal diet. I was disinclined to introduce that part of me to them, let alone to bring it back at all. It was supposed to be the past. And, perhaps, that was the real plague.

During battle, I wasn't me anymore. I had always morphed into a version of Jasper Whitlock that had to feel every nuance of emotion in a war zone and use it as fuel for his own survival. Fighting newborns put me in a mindset that I haven't visited in a long time. A mindset that I never wanted to return to. In it, I saw the world only in shades of black and red. The world was dark, and anyone near me had a deadline. Vampires screamed as loud as their body screeched when torn to pieces, and in the flames they only screamed louder. Their pain seered into me, and I kept moving, carried it with me every step. If I had stopped, if I had given in to the emotion bombarding my very being before every last enemy was gone, I would end up in the flames, and I although it sometimes seemed like the better option than what my life was, my instincts never allowed it. I had to fight. I had to battle more than the physical beings whose fangs stung with each bite into my stone flesh, I had to battle against what was inside them, too.

When things did eventually shift, a monochrome world torn down the middle by pain and fear and - above all else - death, it had only become worse. These enemies did not fight back. These were people; innocent humans who would leave their blood dripping and red on my hands, down my lips, across my chest, forever in my eyes. My reflection was taboo; I avoided it at all costs. All the horror and contempt inside me would build to inexplicable aches of revulsion. My throat would sing after every kill, but it was a song of agony instead of triumph. I knew it would never be over. It was a cycle that, from what I knew at the time, could never end. The devil existed, and he was me.

To try to explain the world of color and light Alice had brought into my eternity would do no justice to the bliss. So despite all my preparations, I was afraid that I could not reenter that excessively bleak environment without turning into my dark persona.

Still, as much as I dreaded the idea of fighting newborns again, I hated that Alice had to fight them even more. That Esme had to. That Carlisle had to. Hell, I didn't even want Emmett in this situation. He felt only excitement about the ensuing fight. The thrill of battle, the glorification of victory urged him on with a wide smile. He had never been to war.

I knew better.

There was no glory in killing those who have no idea what they were fighting for. Newborn vampires were bred from lies. There was no other course we could take to stop them, but it was tragic nonetheless. Carlisle was right about that much. But as horrible as it was, they needed to be stopped. They, unfortunately wouldn't go down easy.

And Emmett...well, he was reckless. Losing focus when overexcited or overconfident was his main fault, and a worrisome one now that his fighting would be real. If my brother gave into his natural inclination to charge straight forward, he would be done for. Just like that. He was strong, but not newborn-strong. How Carlisle and Edward had wrangled down a newborn Emmett I could never imagine. In any case, his strength would do him no good today if he lost focus.

My sister was a different matter. Rosalie would do alright on her own. She was quick, and she used the environment to her advantage. She didn't care if she had to cheat to win. Her style was perfect against those whose only instincts drove them in a straight line. The problem, however, was her fear for Emmett. If he got himself into trouble, her focus would center around him, and that could be dangerous.

Carlisle could handle himself. It was actually impressive how well he did during training. But I had already known, of course, that even though Carlisle never wanted to fight didn't mean he couldn't. Once he had a decision made, there was no hesitation on his part. And he was used to making tough decisions - as a vampire, as a doctor, and as a father. It was what made him an excellent leader.

Thinking of our coven patriarch turned my thoughts unnecessarily tender, which automatically gravitated them to our matriarch. Esme was not a fighter by any means, but she was tough. She improved the most throughout training, and in a one-on-one match she could hold her own, I was certain. Should she finder herself outnumbered or cornered she wouldn't make it, though. I refused to let that happen. I was determined to keep Esme and Alice in my peripheral at all costs. If anything could keep me from being sucked into the monstrous mindset of my past, I hoped it was these two.

Alice, for her part, could theoretically see anything happen ahead of time, as we had demonstrated for Bella. But so much could still go wrong, couldn't it? Battles were more often than not driven by instinct rather than clear-cut decisions. Alice was nimble. She was fast and small, and maybe if we were up against anything other than the very nightmare I never wanted her a part of I might have more faith this close to the confrontation, but as it was, my brain was a bombardment of everything that could go wrong. What if there was no escape route for her to take? What if one of the wolves chased a newborn into our clearing in the heat of battle and Alice's visions faltered? It only took half a second for a newborn to gain the upper hand. There was no room for error, and yet... How could I logically not anticipate every wrong move that needed to be avoided?

"You're overthinking."

Alice's voice disrupted my anxiety. I blinked into her eyes, her head upside down again to judge me face-to-face.

She knew I couldn't help it.

"I know you can't help it," she sang, flipping forward, off my shoulders. She twisted like lightning. By the time her feet touched the ground directly in front of mine, she was facing me. I stared down at her with a creased brow that I knew she hated; already, her warm hands were reaching up to smooth it out. When she was pleased with her work, she smiled, beautiful and alluring. "Remember you were so confident before. You know exactly what you're doing, Jazz. Carlisle trusted you to lead our family for a reason. And he's never wrong, you know? At least about these things, not about double denim."

We both laughed.

"You're right," I conceded.

"I know." She smiled, rising up on her toes with all the grace and poise of a professional ballerina. "You want to know what else I know?" There was a mischievous glint in her sharp, enchanting eyes, and I couldn't help but laugh again.

"Do tell."

She bent her finger at me, encouraging me to lend her my ear. I obeyed, naturally, leaning down until I felt the softness of her lips graze up my cheek. I shuddered. She knew exactly what she was doing, too. But then, serious, she whispered, _"You are not Maria's Jasper."_

I wasn't prepared for the warmth that spread from where her lips touched to the tips of my toes. The was no describing the reflex of emotion that overwhelmed me at my mate's fervent declaration. Because even having forgiven myself for all those years of bringing fear and misery to innocent people (the turned, the trained, the destroyed, and the bitten), and even having no ill-will toward Maria herself (for I knew she was living right by her) I locked onto Alice's words and knew that, once again, she was right. I was not that Jasper anymore. I never wanted to be him again; and I wouldn't.

I was the Jasper whose dark past was the fortunate answer to the Cullen family's survival.

I was the Jasper who was going to lead his mate and their loved ones to victory. To safety.

I was Alice's Jasper, and, when this was all over, that was the only Jasper I planned to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took longer to get out than I anticipated. I forgot how much goes on in this battle outside of Bella's perspective! And then I actually went and split it into two because it was so long. So, now there will be a third chapter (which will have the Volturi), and that'll be the ending. LOL I hope you all like it!

_**OoOoOoO** _

Strands of sunlight filtered a yellow haze across the bright grass of the clearing. The dark storm clouds from the mountains where Edward and Bella safely camped grazed past us in pieces, its tempest over. Ours was barely beginning. Anticipation rose around me like a thick mist. On my right, Emmett rubbed the sole of his foot deeper into the dirt, gaining better traction for his first spring; to my left, Carlisle was the personification of calm, though his emotions were anything but. We were the frontline. Behind us, just as perfectly spaced, were the women. Esme was still as a statue, only strays of her curls moving with the wind. Rosalie was adding several more last-minute pins to her braids, dispelling her anxiety with the charade of preparation. It was unnecessary; her hair was already as wound up around her scalp as possible. Between them, Alice bounced on her toes, as if nothing in the world could put her ill at ease. Her tawny eyes weren't in the present.

"It's almost time," she announced quietly as if feeling my gaze on her. I turned back around as the tension thickened.

Even Emmett now, as excited as he was to fight, carried a hint of caution within him. It wasn't the battle itself that was the problem, I knew. Newborns' minds were like a map I'd studied until memorized. I knew precisely how they worked. Understood the focus, the drive, the thirst, the adrenaline. They were hyperaware creatures, and yet their attention was a fixated point, a direct, unwavering line from them to what they were after - or what they were trying to escape from. They couldn't strategize, and they wouldn't expect it from their prey. That was why they could be dealt with by even the most gentle or unskilled of us. That was why my plan would work, and I didn't need an enchanting, psychic mate to tell me as much. I had recounted the scenarios a million times, like a game of chess, all the pieces aligned in their designated squares.

However, as we and our werewolf allies - standing at the ready a clearing over - fought back the wild ones, another threat would be looming closer.

Earlier this morning, Alice had seen a visit from Jane of the Volturi. She and her dark-cloaked companions were on their way to us. Their arrival would surpass the battle, but never by much. No matter how many times Alice reached out for a different future, forcing decisions to prolong the fight, our law enforcers always arrived immediately after. It wasn't a shock. Clearly, they were here to take care of Seattle's mess and they would end up following the trail of vampires down here. The curious part was that they seemed to stall as if biding their time. They had already waited so long to intervene, so to continue their slow descent on the scene, as if waiting for the outcome without getting their hands dirty, was nothing if not suspicious. We would know for certain once they were here in the clearing and Edward could get a read on their thoughts. If my respect for the Volturi had dwindled at all last year when they threatened my mate's existence, it had all but fell flat now, and that realization left an unsettling sensation in the pit of my stomach. Was this what nausea felt like? It didn't matter. The Volturi's appearance put a strain on our plans already, and we were out of time. We couldn't afford to lose focus.

_I_ couldn't afford to lose focus.

No matter what this fight turned me into, I had a duty to my family.

The wind picked up, and the sun sent shards of light streaming from our skin. This was the moment in Alice's vision that I had been waiting for.

"Keep them in the clearing at all costs," I reminded everyone. "We let none escape. Don't be obvious about your kill. And no protecting backs."

There was a mutual assent, and then Alice announced that they were coming. "Thirty seconds," she whispered.

We coiled, then waited. The world quieted. Even the wind stilled, bating its breath. The edges of my vision blurred, and for a moment I imagined I was on a hilltop, trees replaced by boulders the size of houses, surrounded by other growling, scarred soldiers. The world turned gray and bleak and blood red on the fringes. On that hill, I was alone. A single soldier out of a couple dozen, and it didn't matter to me who lived or survived. In this green clearing, even knowing how much of an advantage we had, there were still holes in our strategy. Not big ones, but ones present enough that my mind strayed to them now, and I cursed because this hadn't been a problem on that rocky hill. In the south, there had been nothing to worry about losing aside from the battle itself; here, there was so much more to lose.

Love truly did have a way of weakening you if you let it. I should know - I used it against those I executed from time to time. Destroying friends, destroying mated pairs - although rare - was by far the worst pain inflicted. I quickly shook away my thoughts of the past. This wouldn't be the same. I wouldn't be that Jasper, and in this battle our bonds would strengthen us, not hinder us. The clearing would come out untarnished. This wouldn't be another wartorn field. We would make this swift. Clean. No torture; no hatred. If death could be simple, that's what this would be.

A branch cracked in the distance. My eyes flashed back into focus.

"On my command," I murmured to Rosalie. My sister flicked a match alive, hovering it above our gas-soaked firepit; just another reminder this wasn't the south. In the wars, a lit fire during battle meant our own were more likely to be lost along with the enemies. Even if a soldier had survived, one missing limb meant they were of no use to our efforts any longer and I was to execute them. Today, my family and our allies would outnumber the enemies enough that I felt confident we could clean up as we went. Plus, it left no room for error should somebody miscalculate an attack and a newborn piece itself back together behind our backs.

Another crack. A snap of a branch. Footsteps. Voices.

_So many._

Two miles to the west now. They reached the crossroads where our scent split from the faux trail Bella created earlier, the one that leads to the wolves. Just as Alice predicted, they split up. The first group to arrive would be ours.

I crouched lower. The others mimicked my movement. Determination resonated through me and into them. It was the last bout of confidence I could afford them before my mind was in a different place. Even now, they were blurring out of my vision as my instincts prepared to kill. It was like a lever was pulled. A trigger activated. Soon I would delve into its depths, and I wasn't sure who I'd be when I resurfaced.

The footsteps in the distance picked up speed. The newborns were running now. Closer and closer. I tried to count their numbers.

A flash of dark, stone skin broke out of the shadows, and I was met with the glowing, crimson eyes of the enemy. I signaled to Rosalie, and then I was running. The moment the soles of my feet were no longer on the ground, I heard the telltale flare of a bonfire, and then the red-eyed monster in front of me was no longer the only one in the clearing.

The dark, muscled newborn lead the pack, charging toward me with thundering feet, lips curled over glistening fangs. His arms reached viciously for me. I slid beneath his grasp. Shooting upright, I grabbed him around his thick throat, slamming him onto his back. His shock rocked through me. Anger erupted as I sunk my nails into the crevices beneath his jawline. Finding a solid hold, I tore; I tore straight through the fear, the pain. The metallic screeching rung in my ears, and finally, I threw his head into the flames behind me just as another newborn appeared to my right. I threw his companion's fear into his face, and he stumbled, blood-eyes widening in horror. I embraced the feeling, eager to absorb it all, and for a moment it was like I had never left the Southern Wars. Ever dark, intangible emotion washed over me, flooding every corner of my being. As the newborn's terror-filled face drew closer to my fatal grasp, I relished in the power, used the hatred around me as a cloak, a crown. I imagined my own bloodthirsty eyes mirroring my enemy's and I smiled.

Then, right before the murderous creature landed in range of my own demonic desire, a thrilled, booming laugh ricocheted across the clearing. Emmett bouldered into my oncoming opponent with the force of an earthquake that could flatten entire cities. It was like an entire army in one man, and I jumped back a step. My brother's fist snapped an arm right in half, and then he was grabbing the other arm, throwing the newborn over his shoulder in a move I had taught him the night before, a move that popped his opponent's arm out of its socket and off its body. In a flash, Emmett had eliminated that threat, and the emotions that rammed into me were excitement, pride, triumph, joy. In my millisecond of confusion, I startled back another half-step. I caught my bearings. Calculated my surroundings. This wasn't the south. This wasn't a war.

Immediately, I found Alice. She was disappearing under the bulky arm of a newborn who instantly went flying in Rosalie's direction. Rosalie was mid-handstand on another's shoulders, her colored nails deep in their shimmering flesh. She spun their torso like a top. In their disorientation, my sister pushed into the air, and the newborn Alice had kicked toward her plowed into its companion with a thunderous crash.

Again, the emotions that seeped from them were _positive_ \- gratitude, trust, protectiveness.

This was unprecedented.

Behind me, Emmett roared, exultant.

Every battlefield I'd ever encountered was dark, territorial, bloodthirsty, savage - much like the newborns we were battling here - and I had been afraid I would succumb to becoming just like them once again. And I had been, hadn't I? Until Emmett rattled it out of me. My family... They were light. Fearful, yes; but for others. And that registered differently. We were fighting for love, and that _mattered_ because for the first time I could tell my own emotions apart from the enemy. The ferocious hate, the unequivocal aggression - none of that was me. Miraculously, I could remember why I was fighting. I could regulate what I was feeling.

Within a mere few seconds of battle, I could remember who I was.

With a fresh sense of certainty, and the werewolves' scuffle just beginning in the distance, I located every member of my family to keep a radar on them. Then I ducked as a newborn with lithe, quiet steps finally launched herself at my back like I knew she would. She flew over me, and I reached up, getting a fist full of her long, bright hair. I yanked her to my chest and her scream died in her throat as her neck snapped. I pressed my foot into her back, breaking her body in two. Anguish ignited every muscle. I strained against it. Fought back, snarling. It would always be like this - two battles in one. But I could overcome it. The end needed to be quicker. I needed to be faster, deadlier.

Pieces of hard, dead stone sizzled purple into the smoking blaze as I tossed vampiric pieces into it.

Rosalie hissed as a now-armless newborn's fangs snapped dangerously close to her arm. A furious snarl erupted from my throat. I was already there, my teeth slicing across the back of the newborn's throat. Its head rolled off, and Rosalie kicked it into the flames before splintering the rest of the body.

In the next second, I was already on my next target. Esme jumped back as I swept the legs off of her opponent and bent him in half like a twig, his spine snapping. Esme flinched, but promptly recovered and tore the newborn's torso apart. We threw our collective pieces toward their blistering end.

A reflection of light caught my eyes, and I looked up to see Alice soaring halfway across the clearing, shimmering against the sun like a bird on fire. She landed on the shoulders of an unsuspecting newborn. Her slim arms wrapped around their head. She pulled up, thin hairline cracks slithering up her captive's agonized face. I almost turned to leave her to her clever devices when she froze.

My eyes widened in horror - in _anger_ \- as the newborn thrashed and Alice hit the dirt, dust spiraling around her as she rolled. The newborn was launching itself with no hesitation.

" _Alice_!"

At the last second, Alice dodged her attacker. Did she see the second one coming from behind?

I didn't wait to find out. I was between them in an instant, but it was already too close. The newborn charged directly into my abdomen, locking its arms around me. No twisting or lurching could set me free. As my ribs began to rip, I tried to push her shoulder back just enough to get a good bite into it, hoping to take an arm off, create enough of a distraction maybe; but she flailed at my movement. My arms pressed against her head, tilting her chin high. I could go for her throat. She twisted her head so fast my arm slipped, and suddenly I felt a stabbing, fiery pain in my forearm. I howled, shoving into her with enough momentum to send us both tumbling. Her strength was too great, and she never let me go.

Suddenly, another vampire was on us. All three of us were snarling. Then the pressure of the newborn's arms disappeared. Once free, I clawed my hand straight through her chest, and then my other hand joined it and sliced upward until the newborn's head was no longer attached to its body. Carlisle, having bitten into the newborn's shoulder blades from behind when he had joined our scuffle, was just tossing its arms into the bonfire, now merely a plume of black-purple smoke.

Alice danced by, briskly collecting pieces of vampire off the ground. She threw me an agitated look - most often seen after a bout of worry - but there was something else in her now-black eyes.

"What did you see?" I demanded, keeping my eyes on the clearing. There weren't many newborns left. Most were wary now, but their agitation was already worked up into volatile aggression. They had no way to stop fighting, even if they wanted to.

Rosalie and Esme were carefully watching Emmett herd a newborn in their direction, while another's wild eyes bounced from each of us in order to decide who it wanted to kill.

"What did you see, Alice?" I asked again.

My mate fidgeted. Her anxiety spiked. "Victoria," she said.

Rosalie's and Esme's heads swiveled around, searching. There wasn't a single redhead in the clearing.

"The wolves?" I tried to understand. She couldn't see them, so it didn't make sense, but...

Alice shook her head wildly, then, glancing up at the distant mountaintops, her cry was a whisper. " _Edward_!"

My stomach dropped. Beside me, Carlisle stiffened, looking up at the mountains, too. I could almost see the calculations of distance and time and speed assembling in his head. It was no use, though.

"We can't help him," I said immediately. A mix of emotions was my family's response, but nobody argued the point.

Emmett plowed into the torso of the newborn he had finally dismembered; sparks flew from the pillar of sickly sweet smoke as the newborn's body joined the rest of its parts.

"Edward can handle her," Emmett said, not skipping a beat.

Rosalie eyed two limping newborns, growling their way forward. "Is it just her?" she wondered, widening her distance next to Esme in case they were too close together. I wasn't about to wait until the newborn's decided on their target. Jumping at them, I smoothly tore the remaining leg off one, sending him tumbling while maneuvering around the second until I was behind her; still in the air, my foot collided with the side of her face. Her neck snapped as she was sent hurdling sideways, right into Emmett's eager hands. Then I looked back at Alice for her answer.

My mate's face was contorted with dread. "She's not alone."

Emmett's confidence in our brother plummeted. Terror swept through the clearing, double what it was when there were twice as many vampires alive.

Victoria must've caught Edward's scent somehow. How many newborns did she take with her? When the fighting began here I had counted ten. There were at least nine footsteps headed for the second clearing. Could Victoria really have successfully created over twenty newborns by herself?

"Will he be..." Esme began to ask, but Alice was already shaking her head.

"Seth should be with him. I can't see the outcome with his involvement."

It was clearly implied, knowing my mate as I did, that she _could_ see the outcome _without_ Seth's involvement, and it wasn't promising. I tamed down my frustration

One of the remaining newborns launched himself, furious, toward Emmett, who was shad just finished off its friend. Then, a deep howl rattled the trees, closer than any before it and, suddenly, a newborn emerged from the werewolves' clearing, blind with terror. It hissed as it saw the group of vampires awaiting him on this side. But he wasn't alone. A second emerged with him, sprinting for another break in the trees. The disruption caused a ripple effect; suddenly our remaining newborns were running, too.

"We can't let them escape!" I shouted. My family scattered. Emmett threw the one in his arms at me, before he was suddenly snarling into the fiercest-looking newborn. A small newborn with straight, black hair slipped through the trees with Carlisle vanishing through the shadows after her. Esme blocked the path of another young one; before it could tackle her, Rosalie sprang into it from the side.

"Heads up!" Alice yelled. I turned just in time to catch a tiny newborn she had flung from the mossy brush. I caught them by the throat and tore them to shreds before their fear could register too deeply. Alice appeared out of the bushes with the rest of the limbs from the body. Emmett and Rosalie were already picking up their own mangled enemies.

"Is that all of them?" Emmett asked, peering around in disappointment. Unbelievable. We could only hope that was the last of them, lest the wolves happened to let more escape. I should have warned them about the flight instinct increasing in survivors by the end.

"Check for stray parts," I commanded, already picking an ear out of the tall grass and tossing it.

It was with a sudden halt that I started to backtrack. " _Wait..._ " I realized, with a sense of urgency, that Carlisle had not returned to the clearing. And now Esme had disappeared with him. Panic shot through me. I told the others to continued scouring the clearing for anything we missed as I headed in the direction I last saw Carlisle. Either there was a reason the vampire he went after was one of the last-standing or my two devoted parents had forsaken the odds and had gone to rescue their imperiled son.

This was not good.

_**OoOoOoO** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really a cliffhanger since we all know what happens. But still! *demands drama*
> 
> And don't worry, the last chapter really just needs to go through some final tweaks before it's posted.


	3. Chapter 3

**OoOoOoO**

Before my panic could override anything else, I darted between the space of trees I had last seen Carlisle run through, and I expanded my gift, searching for emotions, any emotions. I found them easily. They weren't far. And they weren't moving.

"Carlisle?" I called.

I landed next to him and Esme. Both faced toward the west, and I realized there was a third set of emotions I hadn't caught at first. Glancing over, a small girl stared in fright at me, her gaze glowing red through the wild fringes of her straight black hair. Had she always been here? There wasn't time to find out. I coiled to spring. Alarm shot through Carlisle.

"Jasper!" he warned.

I pulled up short, barely catching myself. Wide-eyed, I glanced back at Carlisle. What was he doing? Surely, he wouldn't stop me without a good reason, and I realized then that his calm meant he felt no threat. "What's going on?" I demanded.

"She doesn't want to fight," he said. "She's surrendered."

My brow furrowed in frustration. He couldn't be serious. "Carlisle, I..." Of course Carlisle would find a way to spare one of them. Did that make me the monster again? Was I so far gone without even realizing it, that the thought of sparing even one scared newborn was out of the question? No. Rounding up the emotions around me, I knew I was still me and in control. I was also aware that there was more at risk here; the Volturi were coming. I swallowed the venom that had collected on my tongue and shook my head once at Carlisle. "I'm sorry, but that's not possible. We can't have any of these newborns associated with us when the Volturi come. Do you realize the danger that would put us in?"

"Jasper, she's only a child," Esme protested. "We can't just murder her in cold blood!"

"It's our family on the line here, Esme. We can't afford to have them think we broke this rule."

To my horror - and Carlisle's - Esme walked between me and the surrendered newborn, turning her back to the latter. "No," she said. "I won't stand for it."

Carlisle shot an anxious glance behind her, as I did the same. But all I felt from the newborn was shock; well, predominantly shock. In any case, she wasn't about to lunge. Still, I narrowed my eyes, daring her to take even half an inch toward my mother.

"Jasper," Carlisle started slowly, even as his own body was tensed to strike should he need to protect his wife. "I think we have to take the chance. We are not the Volturi. We follow their rules, but we do not take lives lightly. We will explain."

"They might think we created our own newborns in defense," I argued.

"But we didn't. And even had we, there was no indiscretion here, only in Seattle. There is no law against creating vampires if you control them."

My father's faith in what the Volturi would and would not condone was irritating. We could not trust Jane to be bipartisan. Aro's prodigal child hated Edward, hated Bella, and absolutely detested Alice. "This is too dangerous."

Tentatively, Carlisle touched my shoulder. "Jasper. We cannot kill this child."

I glowered at him, my frustration turning to anger. How could he risk us? Risk his mate? Risk my mate? Over what - hope? A modest longing that the Volturi would see it our way or would even care to?

_No_ , I reasoned. Carlisle expected Aro to play by the rules of his own game, and he knew the ancient one better than most. Aro would need more than single newborn creation as justification to the world that our coven needed to be destroyed. And Jane would not disobey her master. I sighed, defeated. More than the logic in my own head, I trusted Carlisle's judgment. Hadn't I, earlier, acknowledged that his natural course of thought was the balance to mine?

"I don't like this," I said. But I eased my stance. "At least let me take charge of her. You two don't know how to deal with someone who's been running wild so long."

Esme was more relaxed, too, as she responded. "Of course, Jasper." She hesitated. "But be kind."

I rolled my eyes but refrained from commenting. I would _be_ what I needed to. That was up to this newborn they offered mercy to.

"We need to be with the others," I said instead. "Alice said we don't have long."

Carlisle nodded, holding his hand out to his mate. They headed past me back toward the open field.

Glowering at the predicament I now found myself in, I locked eyes with the curious newborn. "You there. Come with us. Don't make one rash move or I _will_ take you down."

Anger flared from the young girl who couldn't have been older than fifteen - sixteen at the most. I braced for any sign that she was unwilling to cooperate.

Behind me, low rumbling that was distinctly werewolf resonated from the clearing. I could faintly hear Carlisle begin to greet them, and knew this was not something I could allow this newborn to witness. For one, who knew how her volatile instincts would react; and two, she could let their involvement slip to the Volturi.

"Close your eyes," I commanded the girl.

She hesitated.

"Do it!"

Her hesitation dwindled out like a flame. She knew her options. As uncomfortable as it made her, she followed my instructions. I was reluctantly impressed, but I wasn't about to let my guard down.

The girl's eyes fluttered shut.

_Good._ "Follow the sound of my voice and don't open your eyes. You look, you lose, got it?"

She nodded, curious, and then her acceptance turned to relief for reasons I couldn't understand.

"This way."

She walked slowly after me, careful. I led her dutifully toward the clearing, giving her clear directions. Although I did not share my parents' compassion, I truly had no desire to make this harder for the newborn than it would be. The scent of burning vampires intensified as we walked. We made it back into the sun, just as Carlisle was finished explaining to the group of wolves - who thankfully appeared to be just as large a pack as they were before the battle - that they needed to get back to their reservation as quickly as possible.

I kept the newborn as far from them as possible, guiding her to the other end of the field where Esme was speaking quickly to Emmett and Rosalie. By the looks on their faces directed at my obedient tag-a-long, I could guess what she was explaining to them. And I didn't need my gift to know how they felt about it.

Walking the newborn over to the crackling fire, I directed her to sit, reminding her to keep her eyes closed. It would be easy to rid of her this close to the blaze, should she force our hand. Fury washed over her at my continuing commands, but I knew it was partly my own. Amidst all the changing emotions inside this young one, one held hard and sturdy - sadness. She had lost someone, I presumed. It couldn't have been a mate, or she wouldn't be so agreeable with us. Pity formed inside me without my consent. Emotion rarely waited for permission, but still... I didn't want to feel sorry for this newborn more than I already did. Yet, I could see her story all too clearly. A confusing, violent world that mirrored my own.

Frowning, I realized a Cullen had also offered to show me another way. I wasn't quite as trusting as Alice, and Carlisle and Esme. Not yet.

But would I be, one day?

As if sensing my discomfort, Esme appeared beside me. She placed a gentle hand against the stinging in my left forearm. I didn't realize I had been rubbing it until she stopped me.

_Right. The bite._

"It's fine," I assured her.

"It hurts?"

"Yes."

My mother frowned. Emmett, on the other hand, grinned at me. "Did you really need another scar?"

Rosalie sighed quietly. "She didn't need your help, Jasper."

I shrugged. What was one more scar? I would gladly endure a million bites if it spared my mate from even one. Then another thought struck me. "What happened to Edward?" I asked, anxiety racing again as I searched for Alice. She was staring off in the direction I knew the Volturi would come from.

Esme answered me. "We asked the wolves if Seth was alright, and if he could see Edward. The could." Her hand moved to rest above her heart in a subconscious move of relief. "They all made it alive."

"Told you he could handle himself," Emmett said with all the undertones of a proud brother.

It was a relief, though. And hopefully he was on his way here. Carlisle had decided on a united front against the Guard, but the timing was still uncertain with the wolves remaining-

Suddenly, a snarl erupted from the second clearing. The earth shook. A scream so high in pitch broke out through the wind that it could only be supernatural. A vampire.

My charge's eyes fluttered and I snarled, coiling. She clenched them back together at once. No matter what, she could not be allowed to see the wolves.

Several echoing growls burst across the pack. I listened intently at the sounds I was hearing, trying to picture what was happening without actually seeing it. Carlisle was shouting above the discord. Panic raged. Anger. Betrayal. Pride. And then a howl of agony pierced the air forcing the hairs on my arms to stand upright. In my peripheral, I could see Alice and my siblings low, all having instinctually crouched. Esme's fear trailed across the grass as she ran toward her husband. More howling erupted, one after another. Loud, excruciating howls. It took all my focus to keep my glare firmly on the newborn in front of me. I vaguely wondered what she was making of these noises. She couldn't know what they truly belong to. Fear was igniting through every bone in her body.

"Jacob!" Carlisle yelled.

Another piercing yowl. The wolves' pain and fear hit me like a bullet. My feet firmed in the dirt. I took a moment to glance over, afraid more newborns had arrived. But there was only one, and the pack was already disposing of its separated limbs. However, the reddish-brown wolf lay twitching.

Jacob Black.

Carlisle was swiftly at his aide, but there was a wolf blocking his path. Angry. Heated. Another gray wolf nudged their fallen comrade sadly with its snout. His chest still rose and fell. His pain was a flare in the dark. He wasn't dead, that much I knew.

"Please let me take a look," Carlisle pleaded. He held a responsibility to these children, too, and now he felt the pain along with them. "Please let me help."

The wolves wouldn't let him. I tsked, turning my attention back to our spared newborn whose eyes remained tightly shut. It took the young one quite the effort, but I was pleased she was so determined to follow orders considering how chaotic everything was turning out to be. If the wolves wanted to be stubborn and not let Carlisle tend to the wounds then-

A new howl changed the tone of the pack, and they reached a strident new pitch as Carlisle was saying "thank you" in a fervent voice. Relief flooded over many. Wolves panted heavier as their footsteps gathered. The unique heartbeats, and heavy breaths, of the pack gathering in one place was like hearing voices from underwater. This was a problem if I was going to keep this newborn in the dark about our unnatural allies.

Just as I suspected, her curiosity piqued. Suspicion. Uncertainty. She sniffed the air. Thankfully, the wind was coming from the opposite direction.

_Still..._

I went over to her and clamped down firmly on either side of her head, over her ears. She jerked in a panic, her eyes snapped open to meet mine. "Stop it," I told her, yanking her back down onto the grass, circulating as much calm as I could through my palms as I covered her ears again. The less she knew, the better. "Close your eyes."

She struggled to calm herself until my assistance began taking effect. That strange mix of relief and acceptance wove through here again. She curled into a ball, wrapping her petite arms tightly around her bare legs. The young girl truly wanted to survive. If the Volturi let her live, she would be an interesting one to tame. A good one, I realized.

But there was no point getting any hopes up.

Carlisle was sending the pack away now. They carried a now-human Jacob delicately away. Carlisle promised he would check on him, but apparently Sam - one of the few wolves I had a name for - was insisting they stay with us to face whatever was coming.

"You have to go," Carlisle insisted vehemently. "All of you. And you must get Jacob away from here now. If we could help we would, but we cannot leave."

In a flash of white and a whir of air, Edward landed between us and them. "Seth is already on his way home," he said. Bella was unconscious in his arms. Carlisle and Esme were at his side immediately. I looked him over once, detecting nothing had changed about him, nothing harmed, nothing damaged. I nodded to myself, as relieved as the rest of my family. There was a sense of wholeness that was present now, now that we were all together.

Edward placed Bella gently onto a soft patch of grass as the whines of the hurting pack slowly faded, receding into the safety of the woods.

It was then that Alice finally relaxed with a dramatic sigh. "Finally, I can see clearly!"

"We're sure we got everything?" I asked Emmett and Rosalie. They had seen more of what happened with Jacob and the pack than I had. Both nodded. There was nothing left for us to do except to wait.

"Alice, how long do we have?" Edward asked, voice tense.

"Another five minutes," Alice announced lightly, happy to have her sight back at one hundred percent. "And Bella will open her eyes in thirty-seven seconds. I wouldn't doubt that she can hear us now."

Carlisle, Esme, and Edward hovered back over her, gently prodding her awake. I turned back to the newborn. We were far enough away from Bella, and the wind was on our side, but it was only a matter of time until she realized there was fresh blood nearby.

"Three minutes," Alice said suddenly, then nodded at me.

I released the newborn's head. "You'd better open your eyes now," I said, stepping back, arms ready to drag her back should she make any sort of move. She sensed danger and immediately took in her surroundings, but there was nothing to see yet, and again I found myself wondering what _she_ would look like to Jane. An opening? An excuse? Even a weakness wouldn't bode well for our coven's image.

Behind me, my family formed a loose, yet close-knit, half-circle. The newborn watched, calculating, trying to fit pieces into a puzzle she couldn't fathom. I heard Bella shifting, getting up on her feet, and Edward guiding her closer. My gaze zeroed in on the newborn as she watched them. She wasn't entirely interested... Yet.

The breeze shifted, blowing the smoke across us, and I froze in anticipation of what was next. Bella's scent hit me at the same time it hit the newborn. Without even realizing it, she was instantly crouching, teeth bared. I mimicked her movement, hissing furiously and shoving her out of her offensive position and back to the ground. Recognition blazed in the newborn's eyes. She not only smelled Bella, she recognized the scent. For the newborn's part, she _was_ trying. Her eyes darted wildly around at everything except the human in the field, but they inevitably always landed back on Bella. Her emotions were all over the place. One wrong move and I would end her. I had no choice, and we were out of time anyway.

Bella's own shock was fading as Edward reassured her in a low voice. "She surrendered. That's one I've never seen before. Only Carlisle would think of offering. Jasper doesn't approve."

That was an understatement.

"Is Jasper all right?" I caught Bella whisper.

"He's fine. The venom stings."

I realized then that I had, again, been absently rubbing at my newest scar.

Bella's shock was back. "He was _bitten_?"

The newborn's emotions heightened the more Bella spoke. The young girl was irrationally irritated, losing control. This wouldn't last much longer.

"He was trying to be everywhere at once," Edward recounted. "Trying to make sure Alice had nothing to do, actually. Alice doesn't need anyone's help."

Alice and I glanced at each other at the same time. Hers was a glare. "Overprotective fool."

My lips quirked up. I'd do it again, too, and she knew it.

Without warning, the newborn's bloodlust spiked, her frustration erupting in a high-pitched scream as she threw her head back, wailing. I snarled, keeping her in her place. She dug her fingers into the dirt, trying to anchor herself to the ground. I leaned into a crouch as I felt her wild emotions jump from one to another.

Carlisle was suddenly beside me, his hand falling on my arm. I held my position. I knew he wouldn't stop me if the child made one step in Bella's direction...

"Have you changed your mind, young one?" Carlisle asked her. "We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself." He put on a brave face, but it pained him a great deal to say that.

"How can you stand it?" the girl asked, almost begging for permission to give in. She glared at my brother's human mate with fierce longing. "I _want_ her."

"You must stand it," Carlisle said solemnly. "You must exercise control. It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now."

At his words, a feeling of defeat washed over her. Would her lack of confidence make her lash out? The only thing that kept her in place was the loss that kept finding its way back to her. She removed her fingers from the dirt and grabbed at her head instead. I didn't need to be an empath to know she was wishing she could remove all thoughts from her head. That she wanted everything to stop. That she just wanted peace.

Again, I felt a surge of pity for the girl.

Apparently, so did Bella. "Shouldn't we move away from her?" she whispered to Edward. At her voice, the newborn's eyes instinctually snapped back to her.

"We have to stay here," Edward said, his wariness at having Bella so close to this newborn increasing exponentially. " _They_ are coming from the north end of the clearing now."

Bella's heartbeat sped, and the wind kept her scent tantalizing on our faces. I frowned at the burn in my own throat. The newborn continued to glower in Bella's direction with her lips curled over her teeth. She trembled.

And then I could hear them, too - the Volturi.

Carlisle's hand fell from my arm as I straightened. Together, we backed away from the bonfire and the newborn, back toward Alice and Edward and Bella. Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett moved in from the other end just as hastily. While I kept an intent check on the newborn's emotions, I let my eyes wander upward where I knew the billowing haze of the shadowed woods would part for Jane and her consorts. Slowly, I slid my calming influence off the newborn. Fear replaced her thirsty craze quicker than normal as she was left to her own torment. She might not have known what was coming, but she knew they were closer to her than to us. She huddled closer to the flames despite their own dangerous flare. Her sharp, glowing eyes were watching all of us now, trying to make sense of what was happening.

My family's anxiety rippled through me, too. We were already on uneven ground with the Volturi. What would happen now?

Beyond the blanket of oily, twisting smoke, the curious dark cloaks finally emerged.

"Hmm," a soft, dead voice murmured.

The newborn's fear froze her trembling form. _Recognition_ , I realized with bitter confusion. Edward realized it, too. How did this girl know Jane? Shock and unease swept over Edward suddenly. And then he was angry. Whatever the girl was thinking, it clearly didn't bode well for us.

Jane - as tiny and angelic as I had imagined - and her three companions ghosted forward. When they stopped, Edward was the one to greet them.

"Welcome, Jane."

Jane scanned each face of my family, unimpressed, yet suspicious. Her childlike face gave away nothing, though each of our faces brought her varying degrees of unease and revulsion, like we were the sharpest thorns in her side. Then, her seemingly-apathetic attention turned toward our spared newborn. Confusion. More annoyance. "I don't understand." Her voice was just as delicate and young as she looked. Deceptive.

"She has surrendered," Edward explained. Her dark gaze snapped to him.

"Surrendered?"

The cloaked vampires exchanged incredulous glances.

Edward shrugged. "Carlisle gave her the option."

Jane swallowed her irritation. "There are no options for those who break the rules."

A chill swept through the newborn, and I knew it was over for her. So did she, as the tangible, aching truth of inevitability engulfed her.

Carlisle answered Jane this time. "That's in your hands," he said calmly, filled with regret, with pity, with sadness. "As long as she was willing to halt her attack on us, I saw no need to destroy her." There was an infinitesimal pause. When he finished, there was a hope in his words. A plea. "She was never taught."

Whatever understanding Carlisle was carefully picking for, Jane carried none. "That is irrelevant," she responded flatly.

Inwardly, Carlisle deflated. "As you wish."

Jane continued to stare at Carlisle. Half confused, half frustrated. Perplexed. I could sense that meeting Carlisle Cullen was everything she had been told it would be, even if she hadn't believed it until now. I had been in a similar situation at one point in my life. She shook her tiny head. "Aro hoped we would get far enough west to see you, Carlisle."

My eyes narrowed at her words, attempting to read her true intentions through emotion alone as distrust braided across my family. Reading emotions hardly offered me the reasoning behind them, however; that was where Edward came in handy.

An infinitesimal smile sprouted on the young Volturi Guard's face at the mention of her master. "He sends his regards."

My father nodded politely. "I would appreciate it if you would convey mine to him."

Jane smiled fully now. I didn't trust it for a second. "Of course," she promised. Then she tilted her head toward our pile of smoking ash, and our newborn. "It appears that you've done our work for us today...for the most part. Just out of professional curiosity, how many were there? They left quite a wake of destruction in Seattle."

"Eighteen," Carlisle answered. "Including this one."

There was a barely audible murmur among the Guard as they glanced at each other again.

"Eighteen?" Jane repeated. I noted the hint of shock in her tone, the surprise visible on her face, that was absent from her emotions. She wasn't at all surprised. Edward and I shared a brief glance of our own.

Carlisle, taking the Guard's bewilderment as a reaction for the number of vampires we took on unharmed, dismissed the army as if we hadn't been planning days in advance for this moment. "All brand-new," he said. "They were unskilled."

"All?" Jane snapped. "Then who was their creator?"

Edward's anger ignited, but he held it down well. There was also an eagerness within him, like he wanted answers and couldn't wait to obtain them. Our newborn's incredulous skepticism increased, as well, and that was when it was obvious that Jane was playing us for fools. They had already met the creator - hadn't they?

"Her name was Victoria," Edward answered. The barely heard accusation in his voice could only be detected by those who truly knew my brother, and I could feel every member of my family carefully watching Jane's face. The ancient child could play us for fools all she wanted; we were anything but.

"Was?" Jane wondered. Edward jerked his head to the east, where another cloud of thick lilac smoke billowed from the side of the mountain. Jane watched it for a moment, contemplative. "This Victoria... She was in addition to the eighteen here?"

"Yes," Edward confirmed, irked. "She had only one other with her. He was not as young as this one here, but no older than a year."

Just as I was processing this new information regarding Edward's solo fight, a sweet sense of pleasure emanated from our spared newborn. _Pleasure?_ It was more, contented, really. Gratified. I imagined she must have known who had been killed, and she was glad.

"Twenty," Jane breathed. There was no impression of surprise from her, yet again. "Who dealt with the creator?"

"I did," Edward answered.

The newborn's gratitude shifted directly onto my brother. Then Jane turned toward her with narrowed eyes. "You there," she addressed, unfriendly. "Your name."

Defiance emanated from the young one. As she pressed her lips tighter together in protest, there was a part of me that suddenly fervently wished she would make this easy, that she would give Jane whatever was wanted. I could only hope that she be offered a swift ending. As the newborn glared back at Jane, the cloaked blonde smiled - the bright, happy smile of an innocent child - and suddenly our newborn was screaming.

My muscles tensed against the onslaught of pain. Her distress amplified my own anxiety. Carlisle threw a worried glance at Edward, then at me; whatever was inflicted upon the newborn, we were the two who would suffer with her whether we wanted to or not.

"Your name," Jane said again as the screaming abruptly died.

"Bree," our newborn gasped. Jane smiled, and Bree's screaming began again. I grimaced, cringing. If only I could numb her pain. If only I could somehow shield anyone from Jane's horrific gift for all eternity. I remembered last year when Edward had told us Jane had used her gift on him when he had stepped up in Bella's defense; Emmett had asked what it had felt like, and Edward hadn't had the words for the pain. It was a terrifying thought that Aro's most treasured asset, his deadliest, was the one sent to us now. That she would always be the one sent to us. And now, witnessing its power in person... How did we fight against this?

Just as Carlisle's foot shifted, and Esme's hand twitched, and Emmett balled his fists, and I swallowed back a growl at the magma of agitation and anger and frustration that spilled before me, Edward was the one to interrupt Jane's torture. "She'll tell you anything you want to know," he said through his teeth. "You don't have to do that." Like the flick of a switch, Bree sunk with her screams.

"Oh, I know," Jane said cheerfully. "Bree?" The girl in question was laying with the side of her face pressed against the earth, panting. I squirmed under the assault of her terror, building up a sense of serenity to encompass the poor girl. "Is his story true? Were there twenty of you?"

"Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know! Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a fight on the way..."

"And this Victoria - did she create you?"

"I don't know," she admitted, flinching. I released the sense of peace I had been building and stretched my gift over her. It wasn't something I could aim at one person - although I'd been practicing - but its radius was malleable enough, and nobody was close enough to Bree to feel its effects. "Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night...it was so dark, and it hurt! He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said that our thoughts weren't safe."

_Interesting_. Victoria had planned more than we gave her credit for, even if it had miserably failed in the end.

Jane's eyes flicked to Edward, then back to young Bree. "Tell me about Riley. Why did he bring you here?"

"Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here. He said it would be easy. He said that the city was theirs, and they were coming to get us. He said once they were gone, all the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent." She pointed at Bella. "He said we would know that we had the right coven, because she would be with them. He said whoever got to her first could have her."

A sick loathing washed over us all; in Edward's case, mixed with silent fury.

"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part," Jane noted. Her tone covered up the slight relief she felt. What was that about?

Bree sat up, eager to please Jane, but also more relaxed thanks to my effects; yet a part of the young one's essence remained defiant, resolved. "I don't know what happened," she said. "We split up, but the others never came. And Riley left us, and he didn't come to help like he promised. And then it was so confusing, and everybody was in pieces. I was afraid. I wanted to run away." She nodded at Carlisle. "That one said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting."

"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one. Broken rules demand a consequence."

Bree stared at her as if she wasn't comprehending Jane's disgustingly playful act, but, again, her emotions - beyond what was under my influence - were... Well, they were in control. Stable. I sensed that the newborn was playing her own game. There was no reason I could fathom why she would do that, but I knew that she was. Did Carlisle's offer warm her to us, despite her instincts? Jane was the obvious threat; so maybe Bree had chosen her side, her final side. But she also knew a great deal about us. More than I felt comfortable with; but, for all her mixed, combating emotions this young newborn felt the need to keep secrets from Jane, and that could only be to protect _us_.

I searched for Edward in my peripheral vision, and without looking, he gave me a quick nod.

The concept was so abnormal, so strange... Again, I was picturing myself in her stead. Lied to. Manipulated. Unhappy with what she was being forced to do. Why did this young girl have to get roped up into our cruel world?

"Are you sure you got all of them?" Jane asked Carlisle. He nodded. "The other half that split off?"

"We split up, too."

"I can't deny that I'm impressed." This time, Jane was sincere. Disappointment clouded it, however. Her three companions quietly agreed with her. "I've never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact. Do you know what was behind it? It seems like extreme behavior, considering the way you live here. And why was the girl the key?"

"Victoria held a grudge against Bella," Edward said. His response made Jane laugh.

"This one" - she smiled at Bella in the way she had right before she used her gift on Bree, and my family tensed at the parallel - "seems to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind."

Edward looked quickly down at Bella, then back up. In control, but furious, he asked, "Would you please not do that?"

So she _was_ trying to use her gift. Emmett nearly growled.

Comprehension, followed quickly by relief, dawned on Bella; she was always a bit behind the rest of us.

Jane laughed again - a dark angel. "Just checking. No harm done, apparently."

My brother was quite fortunate that his mate held such a strong gift herself. If she had tried for Alice instead... I wasn't sure I would have had the restraint to appear stoic, let alone to not intervene if Alice was writhing on the floor in pain. It would be futile anyway, but I still would have moved. Anyone of us would have.

"Well, it appears that there's not much left for us to do," Jane continued, monotone again. "Odd. We're not used to being rendered unnecessary. It's too bad we missed the fight. It sounds like it would have been entertaining to watch."

"Yes," Edward retorted. "And you were so close. It's a shame you didn't arrive just a half hour earlier. Perhaps then you could have fulfilled your purpose here."

I watched Jane's face carefully. Noted every emotion she refused to let pass across her face as she met Edward's glare, and then each of ours in turn.

"Yes," she responded, in her forced apathy. "Quite a pity how things turned out, isn't it?"

The last part was truthful, at least - she _had_ wanted a different ending. As Edward nodded seemingly to himself, I knew it was a nod to all of us. We had all been suspicious; now our suspicions had been confirmed. The Volturi risked exposure on the off-chance these newborns would destroy our coven, our family. I wasn't sure whether it angered me more or frightened me.

Jane turned her attention away from my family again, bored now. "Felix?" She began motioning toward Bree.

_Bree..._

Something odd twisted in my stomach. It wasn't so much pity anymore; rather, a hard denial. She wasn't a fighter. She wasn't territorial. Despite her upbringing, she wasn't out of control, not really. I could feel it before, and I could admit it now, now that she had reached her end. Out of twenty vampires, this newborn had shown miraculous strength of obedience, a willingness to learn. Of control and restraint. Of... Of humanity, even. Was that why it tormented me, now, to accept her outcome? How had I managed any compassion for this girl who I had been set in destroying without a shred of remorse only minutes earlier?

"Wait!" Edward threw his hand up to the Guard. Everyone turned to him, confused. He glanced at Carlisle, speaking quickly. "We could explain the rules to the young one. She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing."

"Of course," Carlisle agreed eagerly, turning to Jane again. "We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for Bree."

I anticipated Jane's reaction correctly this time. She was incredulous, amused, amazed. "We don't make exceptions," she answered, still amused. "And we don't give second chances. It's bad for our reputation. Which reminds me..." Her smile widened as she took in Bella again. "Caius will be so interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll decide to visit."

"The date is set," Alice announced, speaking up for the first time. I tensed in response. "Perhaps we'll come to visit you in a few months."

Jane's smile disappeared in an instant. She shrugged, not even bothering Alice with a glance, but my skin bristled, my lips nearly curling as I felt exactly how she felt about my mate. _Pure hatred_.

Jane was already turning back to our father. "It was nice to meet you, Carlisle - I thought Aro was exaggerating. Well, until we meet again..." Carlisle, pained as he was, could only nod. Spiritless again, Jane nodded toward Bree. "Take care of that, Felix. I want to go home."

Bree didn't move. She had come to accept her fate early on. Now, mixed with the only gift I could offer, she was already in a dreamlike state, closing her eyes. I had put all my remaining energy into extinguishing all her sadness, all her fear, all her inner pain. If she had to die, I would let her go peacefully.

"Don't watch."

Edward had whispered the warning to Bella, but we all took his advice. Even though I was already entrenched in the girl's emotions, it didn't mean I had to watch. I turned toward Esme who turned into Carlisle's chest, who in turn sadly closed his eyes. There was a deep, rumbling growl, and then the high-pitched keen of immortal skin sliced apart. The sound cut off quickly, replaced with the sickening crunches and snaps of broken bones. There was a sizzle, and I looked up in time to see Felix smirk at us. His enjoyment of murdering children replaced all I felt that was once Bree's; I drew back my gift quickly.

"Come," Jane said to him.

Without another word, the tall dark cloaks drifted away. Even as they disappeared into the thick mist, there was no sense of relief among us. Jane had proven to us what the Volturi was willing to risk to dispose of the Cullens. Whatever they felt they spared here today, they would come back for. The only question was - what would trigger them, then?

_**OoOoOoO** _

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finished! There was a lot to take in for Jasper from a lot of different people, and I hope that came across clearly. In the Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, Bree accepted her fate so easily toward the end (which made sense), but she also never felt any fear. But fear is inevitable at the last moments no matter how ready you are to die. So, I figured what if Jasper - his humanity surprising even him - kept her at peace.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you'll let me know what you think!


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